Mail-bag catcher.



I. DAVIS.

MAIL BAG-CATCHER.

APPLICATION. FILED JUNE 21. I911- 1 26U 521, Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I- INVENTOR ATTORNEY T. DAVIS.

MAIL BAG CATCHER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 2I, I917.

' 1,260,521. Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2- WITNESSES WMWJS;

h ATTORNEY TOMIE DAVIS, 0F LEGGETT, TEXAS.

MAIL-BAG CATGHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented 111m. 26, 1913.

Application filed June 21, 191?. Serial N 0. 176,205.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, TOMIE DAVIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Leggett, in the county of Polk and State of Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in mail bag catchers. and it consists in the constructions, combinations and arrangements herein described and claimed.

An object of my invention is to provide a mail bag catcher including a column mounted in a standard which contains an arrangement of springs whereby the column is normally held in a correct position so that a bag catching aw carried by an extension of the column may be normally disposed in a mail bag receiving position.

Other objects and advantages will appear from the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying'drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation showing the principal elements of my device, certain portions being shown in section,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the parts shown in Fig. 1, portions being shown in section,

Fig. 3 is a section of the column supporting standard showing the spring arrange ments therein,

Fig. 4 is a, cross section on the line 1-4 of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a cross section on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3.

In carrying out my invention I provide a platform 1 which is to be supported upon any suitable foundation as for instance a number of ties 2. The ties 2 as shown in Fig. 1 are considerably longer than the usual ties vwhich support the rails of the tracks, and if in actual practice, it be found inexpedient to employ and arrange the ties as shown in Fig. 1, any other suitable foundation for the platform 1 may be provided.

A hollow standard 3 is supported upon the platform 1 by means of an annular flange 1 on the standard 3 through which screws 5 pass and hold the hollow standard 3 firmly in position. A cap 6 closes the top of the standard 3 and by means of an axial opening therein, assists in supporting a column 7 in the standard 3.

The column 7 has a horizontal extension 8 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A staff 9 is slidably disposed in the extension 8 which for the purpose is hollow. Set screws 10 bind the staff 9 to whatever position it may be desired to locate the staii.

A fixed jaw 11 is secured upon the outer end of the staff 9 by means of bolts which pass through the fixed jaw plate 11 and through a collar or flange 13 on the end of the staff 9. The fixed jaw plate 11 is non mally disposed in parallelism. with the direction of travel of the trains upon the road.- way, one of the cars of a train being indi cated as 1 1 in Fig. 1. The staff 9 and the supporting extension 8 therefor, are however, disposed at an angle to the fixed jaw plate 11.

The disposition of the extension 8 and the staff 9 at an angle with the fixed j aw plate 11, however has no material advantage but is simply the most effective expedient for properly mounting the fixed jaw plate 11 so that subsequent movement of the exten' sion 8 and staff 9 with the column 7 as an axis, may be compensated for when a mail bag is received by the catcher.

A movable jaw plate 15 is fulcrumed as at 16 upon the fixed jaw plate 11. A strong leaf spring 17 which is secured upon the fixed jaw plate 11, bears against the movable jaw plate 15 and tends to urge it toward the plate 11 and thereby to close the jaws of the catcher.

Trip links 18 are pivoted as at 19 to the respective movable and fixed jaw plates 15 and 11 respectively. When the trip links 18 are extended so that the various pivotal points arein alinement, themovable jaw 15 will be held in the position shown in Fig. 2 in readiness to receive a mail. bag. The mail bag is carried by the car 14, and when it strikes the trip links 18, the intermediate pivotal. point 19" will be moved out of alinement with the extreme pivotal points 19 thus breaking the trip link connection and permitting the movable jaw plate 15 to close upon the fixed jaw plate 11 by virtue of the tension of the spring 17.

A resetting arm 20 is fulcrumed as at 21 upon the movable jaw plate 15. The resetting arm 20 has a roller 22 at its end and also has a lever 23 by which the resetting arm 20 is manipulated by the operator. The arm 20 is adapted to move through a suitably arranged slot 242 in the movable jaw plate 15, when it is desired to bring the movable jaw plate 15 to the position Shown in Fig. 2 after the trip links 18 were LUZ) collapsed by the striking of a mail bag against them. In this instance, the lever 2-3 is moved outwardly whereupon the roller 22 will accordingly roll over the surface of the fixed jaw plate 11 and cause the movable jaw plate 15 to move away from the plate 11 and return to the position shown in Fig. 2.

The attendants platform 25 is located beneath the catching jaws, and is supported by suitable trusses 26. A ladder 27 serves as a mounting; for the attendant to the platform 25. When a mail bag is caught by the jaws, the attendant mounts the platform 25 and loosens the bag by operating the resetting arm 20 through the medium of the lever 23 in the manner above described.

A pair of springs 28 and 29 are mounted in the upper and lower portions, respectively of the standard 3. The springs 28 and 29 are adapted to bewound in opposite directions, that is to say when the column 7 is turned to the right, tension is stored in the upper spring 28. When the column 7 is rotated to the left, tension is stored in the lower spring 29. The extreme ends of the springs 28 and 29 are secured to adjacent fixed portions of the standard 3 in any suitable manner.

An annular flange 30 is fixed upon the column 7 intermediate of the ends of the standard 3. Set screws 31 which pass through a collar on the. flange 30, serve to secure the flange to the column 7.

The medial ends of the springs 28 and 29 are looped as at 28 and 29 respective y. Pins 32 and 33 on the upper and lower surfaces. of the flange 30, cooperate with the respective loops 28 and 29 For instance, when the column 7 is rotated toward the right, the pin 32 will accordingly enter the loop 28 as shown in Fin. 4 and by winding the spring 28 will store tension therein which will serve to restore the column to its former position and reset the extension 8 to the position shown in Fig. 2:. 4

Should the column 7 be rotated in the other direction, the pin 33 will enter the loop 29, as shown in Fig. 5 and store tension in the lower spring 29 which will serve to return the column 7 to its normal position. In winding the springs 28 and 29: and fixing them within the standard 3 in the first instance, it is to be observed that the tension of the respective springs should be such that under normal condltions they will counter-balance one another and serve to maintain the column 7 in such a position that the extension 8 and its carried bag catching jaw will be disposed substantially in the position shown in 2. i 1' The mail bag 84 is supported by the loops 35 upon the ends 36 era pair of arms 37.

The arms 37 are journaled in. brackets in'the doorway 39 of the car 14. The upper arm 37 carries a plunger 40 which is ceived by a cylinder 41 and is pressed outwardly by a spring 42. The connection of the arms 37 with the brackets 38 is loose enough to permit the extension of the arms 37 within certain confines through the tension of the spring 42. The standard 3 is braced upon the platform 1 by a plurality of guy rods 43 which may be tightened by the turn buckles 44.

The operation of the device is as follows. It has been explained that the tension of the respective springs 28 and 29 is such that they counter-balance one another with the result that the extension 8 with its carried catching jaws, is disposed at the predetermined location illustratco in Fig. 2.

The mail clerk aboard the car 14 hangs the mail bag 34 between the members 36 of the arms 37, and swings the arms 37 to the position shown in 1. The arms 37 are held in this position by any suitable latch mechanism which does not enter as an element of the present invention. The spring 42 in the cylinder 41 serves to keep the arms 37 extended and consequently will hold the bag 34 in position.

As the car 14 now advances toward the open jaws of the catcher, the bag 34 will strike the trip links '18 and break the connection. The spring 17 will now cause the movable jaw plate 15 to move toward the fixed jaw plate lland consequently clamp the bag 34 between thejaws.

The attendant upon mounting the platform 25, willoperate the resetting arm 20 through the medium oi" the lever 23 in the manner previously explained and thus re lease the bag 34 which. may then be taken away. The jaws are thus reset and ready to receive another ha i The impact of the advancing bag 34 into. the jaws will cause the extension 8 to move to a certain extent, the column 7 acting as a pivot. When this occurs the pin 32 on the flange 30. will enter the loop 28 and wind the spring 28. The same forward movement of the extension 8 together with the advanc ing bag 34 will serve to cause the arms 37 to rotate in their brackets 38 in a direction toward the car 14. As the car 14 continues to advance, the disengagement of the loops 35 of the bag 34 will be finally effected and when this disengagement occurs, the stored tension in the spring, 28 will act upon the column 7 and return, it-to its former poshv tion so that the extension 8 and its carried catcher will be located in the position shown in Fig.2. a a.

While the construction and arrangement oi? the'denice. as illustrated in the drawings is that of a generally preferred form, obviously modifications and changes may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claims.

I claim 1. A mail bag catcher including a hollow standard mounted upon a platform, a col umn journaled in the standard, a bag catcher carried by the column, a flange carried by the column interiorly of the standard, oppositely wound springs in the standard, these springs having loops adjacent to the fiange, and pins on the flange engageable with one or the other of the loops as the column is rotated in one or the other direction.

2. A mail bag catcher comprising a hollow standard, a column journaled in said standard, a bag catcher carried by said column, oppositely wound springs in said standard, said springs having loops adjacent said column, and pins carried by said column and releasably engageable with one or the other of said loops as the column is rotated in one or the other direction.

3. A mail bag catcher comprising a hollow standard, a column journaled in said standard, a bag catcher carried by said column, oppositely wound springs in said standard, said springs having loops projecting in opposite directions, and pins carried by said standard and alternately engageable with one or the other loops as the column is rotated in one or the other direction, whereby only the tension of one spring at a time will be increased for returning said journal to its normal position.

4:. A mail bag catcher comprising a hollow standard, a column journaled in said standard, 'a bag catcher carried by said column, oppositely wound springsin said standard, said springs having loops adjacent said column, and means carried by said column and releasably engageable with one or the other of said loops as the column is rotated in one or the other direction.

5. A mail bag catcher comprising a hollow standard, a column journaled. in said standard, a bag catcher carried by said column, oppositely wound springs in said standard, said springs having receiving portions adjacent said column, and pins carried by said column and releasably engageable with one or the other of said receiving portions as the column is rotated in one or the other directions.

6. A mail bag catcher comprising a hollow standard, a column journaled in said standard, a bag catcher carried by said column, oppositely wound springs in said standard, said springs having receiving portions adjacent said column, and engaging means carried by said column and releasably engageable with one or the other of said receiving means, of said springs as the column is rotated in one or the other direction.

ard, having loops adjacent said column, and

means carried by said column and normally engaging both of said loops, thus holding the column in a normal position, said means adapted to disengage one loop and draw upon the remaining loop for winding one spring as the column is swung in one direc tion, thus causing the column to be returned to its normal position with the means engageable with both of said loops when the pressure thereon is relieved.

8. In a mail bag catcher comprising a hollow standard, a column journaled in said standard, a bag catcher carried by said column, oppositely wound springs in said standard, said springs having receiving portions adjacent said column, and pins carried by said column normally engaging the receiving portions of both the springs, thus normally retaining said column in a set position, and said pins being adapted to disengage one of v the receiving portions and draw upon the remaining receiving portion, as the column is swung in one direction, thus increasing the tension of one spring to cause the return of the column as soon as pressure is relieved therefrom, thus causing the pins to again engage both receiving portions for holding the column in a set position as above specified.

9. A mail bag catcher comprising a hollow standard, a column journaled in said standard, a bag catcher carried by said column, oppositely wound springs in said standard, having receiving portions adjacent said col umn, and engaging means carried by said column and normally engaging the receiving means of said springs, thus causing the column to be normally retained in a set position, said pins being adapted to disengage one of the receiving portions and to draw upon the remaining receiving portion to increase the tension of one spring, thus causing the column to be returned to its normal position as soon as pressure is relieved from the bag catcher, thus causing the engaging means to again engage both receiving portions for again holding the column in its normal position.

10. A mail bag catcher comprising a hollow standard, a column journaled in said standard, a bag catcher carried by said column, tension means in said standard having receiving portions engaging said column, pins carried by said column, and normally engaging the receiving portions, thus causing the column to be held in a set position, said pins being adapted to disengage one receiving portion to draw upon another receiv ing portion, for causing the return of the oolump to its normal posi ion aftel pressu re 1s relieved thsrefrom, at wh ch tlme Il1d P1116 W.l.l 1 agony engag the recenjlng portiol s 35 again holdu g said column 111 a set position,

1.1.. .A bag catohe comprising a hollow standard, a column QHmoled in said standford, a bag catcher carried by said column, tension m ans arried Within said standard and having receiving portions adjacent said oolumn,e11c1 engaging means carried by said columnand normally engaging the receiving po tions for retaining said column in a set o ition, said column being adap ed to l ate as pressure is, applied thereto, thus causing; the engaging meens todissngege one o the receiving portions and m e the remaining receiving porLiOIlS t0 actuate one of the tension means, thus causing the column to be returned to its normal position for sing the engaging means to zigein engage the receiving port ns for again r taining the column in its normal position.

In test mony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses- H R HOLLAND, LIGE DE WALT.

Copies of. thispatent may be obtained for jive cents each, by addressing the (*Jommissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

